


beautiful boy

by bea_watford



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Late Night Chats, M/M, gays bein gay, just guys being dudes, just soft, that's all, they're so in love, you know how it be!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 09:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bea_watford/pseuds/bea_watford
Summary: On the night before graduation, Steve calls Jonathan, and the two have one last small late night adventure before they venture outside of Hawkins and into adulthood.





	beautiful boy

“Are you busy?”

“No.”

“Would you be interested in going on an adventure with me?”

“At 10 p.m the night before we graduate? Steve..”

“C’mon, Byers. One last adventure. One last time.” 

Jonathan sighed. 

“I’ll be ready.” 

Steve beamed behind the phone. “I’ll be over in 15.” 

Steve hopped in his beat up car, used to be his father’s. He pulled out of his driveway, rolled down all of the windows, the new The Who song Jonathan was obsessed with flowing out of the car evenly. Steve admired the stars above him, smiling softly to himself. The night was warm, and embraced him, just as it always had. 

Moments later, he pulled into the Byers’s gravel driveway, watching Jonathan jog slowly out of his house, and into his car. 

“I can’t fucking believe you, Harrington.” Jonathan laughed, snapping a picture of Steve. The flash left dots in Steve’s vision, but he didn’t mind. 

“You got a haircut,” Steve noted, pulling out of the second driveway, and starting down the long straight ahead of him.

“Mom said it’d be nice for graduation. I hate it.” 

“I think it’s cute.” Jonathan’s face went up in flames. This is why Jonathan was hesitant to go tonight. He and Steve had been like this for months now, casually flirting, brushing hands in the hallway, blushing profusely, winking, stumbling over words, calling each other cute, and beautiful. 

Nancy was tired of it, but then again, so were they. Jonathan didn’t know, but Steve felt the same way Jonathan did.

“Have you decided on a college yet?” Jonathan asked, trying best to change the subject.

“Nah.” Steve said. “I don’t know if I will go to college. I’d love to be a teacher, but, I’ll probably just end up working for my dad. Not his fault I’m stupid.” Steve scoffed.

“Don’t say that.” Jonathan frowned. “You’re very smart, Stevie.” 

They reached the outskirts of Hawkins, and Steve parked his car on the edge of a forest, where he and Jonathan usually ended up after driving around for a bit. 

“I can’t believe we’re graduating.” Steve said, laughing. “It seems like forever ago that it was just you, me and Nancy killing whatever the fuck that was in your house.” 

“Yeah.” Jonathan’s breath caught as Steve placed his hand over his own. 

“Is this okay?” Jonathan couldn’t form words, much less a simple ‘yes’, so he just nodded. Steve nodded in return. “God, I don’t know what I’d do without you or Nancy.” 

“Me either.” 

“Are you scared?” Steve finally met Jonathan’s eyes. “Of what happens next?” 

“I mean, kinda. I’m scared to move over 600 miles away from here, scared to be without my mom,” Jonathan laughed at his ridiculousness. “Scared to leave her and Will. Scared I’ll burn my dorm room down.” Steve laughed with him. 

“It’ll be good though, for you to get out of here.” Steve said. 

“And you’re not?”

“Probably not.” Steve said, looking down at his lap. “I know you think I’m better than this town, but maybe I was made for it.”

“You hate Hawkins!” Jonathan exclaimed. “You can’t stay here, Stevie. C’mon.” As some Foreigner song faded out, REO Speedwagon’s ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ began playing, the piano making Jonathan’s heart race. 

“I do hate it here. But, I don’t really have any other choice. I’m basically useless. I’ll work for my dad, you and Nancy will leave, and I’ll be able to keep an eye on this kids, make sure they aren’t dying. I’ll send you letters, Jon, if that’s what you’re worried about-”

In desperation and helplessness, Jonathan leaned forward over Steve’s console, closing the gap between the two, and connecting their lips into a firm kiss. Steve’s free hand found its way to the nape of Jonathan’s neck pulling him closer, and he smiled into the kiss. To Jonathan, Steve tasted like lemons and watermelon salt water taffy, and anything that wasn’t Steve in that moment didn’t matter. 

For air consumption reasons, they had to break apart. As they sat, not speaking, REO still played softly in the background. The piano didn’t quite break Jonathan’s heart anymore. 

“Come to New York with me,” Jonathan said eagerly. “You can apply and go to their education school, we can apply for room and board together. Even if you don’t come to NYU, at least come to New York with me. Please.” 

“Jon, I-” 

“Don’t think about it! Just come with me.” Jonathan’s eyes twinkled with delight, and he smiled, riding off of the high the kiss gave him. 

“I can’t.”

“What’s keeping you here, Stevie? The kids are going to be in high school this year. Max will be driving. They don’t need to be babysat anymore. Plus, they have Hopper and Joyce to look over them, and we have the whole summer to make sure they’re safe. Nothing is tethering you here, Steve. Come with me.” Jonathan searched Steve’s eyes for something, any sort of give.

“Okay.” 

“Okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll go to New York with you. I’ll apply, and pray admissions aren’t closed, write my essays, and hope that my college fund has enough for tuition.” 

“Steve, your grades are just fine. You can get scholarships.”

“Ugh. I’m tired of talking about school.” Steve rolled his eyes. “What were we doing right . before that?” Steve tapped his forehead in fake thought. “Oh! I know.” He cupped Jonathan’s cheek, pulling him forward. “Right about here.” He pressed their lips together again, and this time, it was Jonathan’s turn to smile into their kiss. 

As they broke apart, Steve sighed happily. 

“God, you’re so beautiful.” He ran his hand through Jonathan’s hair, admiring his features. “Beautiful boy.” 

“In New York, we can get an apartment.”

“Take the trains everywhere. I’ve always admired their subway system.” 

“Eat their pizza.” 

“Take walks in Central Park.”

“Get a dog.”

“Or a cat.” 

“Watch movies in our apartment.” 

“Invite the kids to come visit us.”

“Show Nancy all the cool museums.” 

“And, hey, maybe the New York Post could hire you as a photographer!”

“One can only dream, Harrington.”

The pair talked into the early morning, sitting in Steve’s car, the radio on low, holding hands over the gearshift, and peering at the stars from their leather seats. Their vision was covered by clouds, but as always, they were able to dream up stars to see in their heads. The two dreamed of New York, and Central Park, and a nice life outside of the hell hole that was Hawkins, Indiana. They talked of blasting music and annoying their neighbors, trying different things, all experiences they’d do with each other. They wanted to be with each other. They wanted to come home to each other, and hold hands and kiss and go on dates. They dreamed of ivy colored walls and taco trucks parked along the street. Jonathan talked of wandering around Times Square and have small plants to hang in their window, while Steve believed in making pasta and them laughing till their stomachs hurt. They could finally be together, not that everything was out on the table. They wanted to be together.

They wanted to be Steve and Jonathan. 

So that’s just who they’d be. 

The babysitter and photographer turned teacher and journalist.

**Author's Note:**

> First off, thank you for reading. This is something that's been brewing in my brain for a while, and I've finally been able to clear time to vomit it onto paper. Second off, you can find me at stonathans-stranger.tumblr.com come yell about stonathan and elmax with me!! i'd love to hear from you!! if you enjoyed, please leave a kudos and tell me what you though about this!! i absolutely love hearing from you guys and it makes me so happy to read your comments. happy reading!


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